Automatically reversible mechanical toy



W. H. HUTH.

AUTOMATICALLY REVERSIBLENIECHANICAL TOY- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2|.1920. RENEWED JULY 15. 1921.

Patented Aug. 16,1921.

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AUTOMATICALLY REVERSIBLE MECHANICAL TOY. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21.1920- RENEWED1ULY15|192L 1,388, 1 l 3. Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

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26 [av/emf" w. 'H. HUTH. AUTOMATICALLY REVERSIBLE MECHANICAL TOY.APPLICATION FILED IUNEZI. I920. RENEWED JULY I5 1921.

1,38 ,113. PatentedAug- 16, 1921.

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STATS WALTER H. HUTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATICALLY REVERSIBLE MECHANICAL Tog.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 16, 1921.

Application filed June 21, 1920, Serial No. 390,355. Renewed Jul 15',1921. Serial no. 485,022.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. HUTH, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and

a resident of'Chicago, Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Automatically Reversible Mechanical Toys,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanical toys of that class in which meansare provided cally reversible toy of this character having provlsions tolnsure a substantial momentary for automatically reversing the directionof' toy encounters an obstruchesitation of the toy in stationaryposition before the reversal of travel takes place, so

that the toy Will travel until it strikes theobstruction, then remainstationary for a short period of time, and then start back in theopposite direction.

Another ob 'ect 1s to provide means to automatically produce a signal bythe reversal of the toy, the signaling device being operated during thehesitation of the toy or while it is standing still before the reversalof movement takes place.

It is'also an object to provide certain details and features ofconstruction and combinations tending to increase the general efiiciencyand the desirability of an automatically reversible mechanical toyofthis I particular construction.

To these and other useful ends the invention consists in mattershereinafter set forth and claimed" and shown inthe accompanyingdrawings,in which- I Figure l 'is a plan ofa toy ferry boat having propelling andreverslng and signaling means embodying the principles of the invention, showing the body or cabln' portion of said boat removed.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said showing the said body or cabiniindotted lines. I Fig. 3 is a plan of the motorand general mechanism ofthe boat. Fig.4 is asideelevation of the same.

Fig.5 is a longitudinal vertical section 1 on line 5- 5 in'Fig. 3. I

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan of the structure shown 1n Figs. 3, 5t, and 5.

Fig. 7 is a perspectlve of the device for ringing the bell whichconstitutes the audible signal whichis produced by the reversal oftravel. v

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section on line 8-8 in Fig. 5. y

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section on line 99 in Fig. 6. i I

'Fig. 10 is a. detail sectional view of the governor, V

Fig. 11 is an end elevation of the structure shown in F igs. 3, 4e,and5. 1 Fig. 12 is a vertical section on line 12-12 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged 13-13 in Fig. 4;.

Fig. 14 is a" detail section on line 1 1 -14 in Fig. 13; i w

Fig. 15 is a in Fig. 13; I

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a body 1 mounted on wheels2 and 3, the latter having a driving aXleor shaft 4: extendingtransversely of "the toy. The bodyor cabin 5 may be'of anysuitablecharacter. In the drawings the toy takes "the general form of a,ferry"boat ,'but it will be understood that the invention" may beembodied in'a toyof any suitable formercharacter. The body frame 6 ofthe motor and gcneralmechanism'of the toy is suitably securediup on thetop of the platform" or body 1, and has a spring barrel 7 at one sidethereof to furnish the power for driving the toy, and a bell 8 at theother side. The said spring barrel is connected by gear wheels9, 10, 11,12, and 13 with the pinion 14, and the latter engages and rotates thepinionf15,all of' these gears and pinions being suitably mounted on thebody frame of the motor. The pinion 14 engages a gear Wheel 16 mountedon the body frame of the motor,while the pinion 15 engages a similargear Wheel 17 mounted onthebody frame,

section on line detail section on line' 1515 I an endwise movable shaftor journal 18 extending through the sleeves 19 upon which said gearwheels are mounted to rotate. This shaft or journal 18 has a gear wheel20 mounted thereon and provided at opposite sides with means to engagethe inner ends of the sleeves 19, so that the axle or journal 18 will berotated by either one of the two gear wheels 16and 17, which latter aredriven constantly in opposite directions while the toy is in operation.For this purpose it'will be understood that the side of the gear wheel16 may be provided with a lug 21 to engage one of the lugs 22 of thegear wheel 20, while the gear wheel 17 is provided with a similar lug 23to engage one of the lugs 22 of the shifting gear wheel 20, whereby areversible clutch mechanism is provided. The gear wheel 20 has slidingengagement with the wide pinion 24 which engages the gear wheel 25,whereby the latter is driven first in one direction and then in theother, by the reversal of the pinion 24, in a manner that will bereadily understood. This gear wheel 25 is mounted on a screw 26 which isfixed to the axle or shaft 4 previously men tioned, and clutch shoulders27 are disposed at the ends of the screw 26 to engage the opposite sidesof the gear wheel 25, to interlock the screw and gear wheel, so thatrotation of the latter will rotate the said shaft or axle 4 whichoperates the propelling wheels 30f the toy. Thus the gear wheel 25 isrotated first in one direction and then in the other on the screw 26,with the result that the gear wheel is caused to shift laterally backand forth on the screw, and to engage first one shoulder 27 and then theother, thus rotating the screw and the axle 4 to drive the toy. It willbe seen, however, that the endwise shifting of the axle or journal 18 isnot accompanied by an immediate reversal'of the direction of travel,inasmuch as it takes some time for the gear wheel 25 to travelfrom oneend of the screw 26 to the other end thereof, so that a substantialmomentary hesitation of the toy is insured before the reversal of traveltakes place.

Preferably, asignal is produced during the hesitation of the toy, orwhile it is standing still, after encountering an obstruction, aswillhereafter more fully appear; and, as shown, thissignal comprises thesaid bell 8 and the striker 28 which is mounted on the rock shaft 29that extends through the sides of the body frame 6, and which isprovided with a depending portion 30 for engagement with the element 31,which latter is pivoted on the bottom of the arm 32, the latter havingend portions 33 which engage the opposite sides of the gear wheel 20previously mentioned. The arm 32 is pivoted on the bottom of. the bodyframe at 34, and the pointed element 31 has a stop 35 to limit itsoscillation. A spring 36 is arranged to pull the striker 28 against thebell. WVhen the arm 32 swings in either direction, the element 31engages the depending portion 30, and thereby rocks the shaft 29,causing the striker 28 to move away from the bell, and as soon as theportion 30 is disengaged by the element 31, the spring 36 then pulls thestriker back against the bell, thus producing the signal. In this way,therefore, the audible signal is produced by the lateral shifting of thegear wheel 20, and during the hesitation of the toy in stationaryposition before the reversal of travel takes place.

The shifting of the axle or journal 18 is automatic, and is accomplishedby means of the two cams 37 and 38, one cam pushing the axle endwise inone direction, and the other cam pushing it in the opposite direction.These two cams are mounted on the sides or arms 39 of the weight 40,which latter is pivoted at 41 near the bottom of the motor body andarranged to be tilted forward and backward by momentum-that is to say,the said weight will swing over by momentum when the toy is stoppedsuddenly by an obstruction.

With this construction, therefore, the toy can be wound up and startedin one direction. and as soon as it runs into something or is stopped,the momentum will carry the weight 40 forward a distance, thus shiftingthe axle or journal 18 and thereby operating the reversing mechanism.The reversal of travel, however, does not take place immediately, aspreviously explained, but does occur as soon as the gear wheel 20 hasrotated sufficiently on the screw 26 to shift it into engagement withone of the clutch shoulders 27, and during this interval of time thesignal is produced. Then the toy starts back in the opposite direction,-and can be reversed again by stopping it suddenly, inasmuch as theweight 40 will swing in the opposite direction and again reverse thetransmission of power to the wheels by which the toy is propelled alongthe floor.

The governor 42 is mounted in any suitable position adjacent to thegearing to be rotated thereby, and will expand by centrifugal forceagainst the tension of the springs 43, to cause the weights 44 to enthestationary cylinder 45, thus fric- I gearing having provisions to insurea substantial hesitation of the toy in stationary position before thereversal of travel takes 7 the toy throws the weight one way or theother, depending upon which way the toy is traveling.

5. A structure as specified in claim 1, said devices comprising atransverse shaft having a reversible clutch mechanism thereon,

and cams operated by said weight to shift said shaft endwise to reversethe drive.

6. A structure as specified in claim 1, in combination with asound-producing device, and means whereby said sound-producing device isoperated by said motor after the toy stops and before it starts in theopposite direction.

7. A structure as specified in claim 1, in combination with meansoperated by said devices to automatically produce a signal by thereversal of the toy.

8. A structure as specified in claim 1, said transmission gearing havinga screw, a gear wheel mounted to rotate on said screw and shift back andforth laterally thereon, and means whereby said gear wheel becomeslocked to the screw aftershifting laterally a distance in eitherdirection, thereby to insure a substantial momentary hesitation of thetoy before the reversal of travel takes place. 7 7

9. A structure as specified 1n claim 1, sald transmission gearlnghavinga screw, a gear wheel mounted torotate on said screw and shaftback and forth laterally thereon, means whereby said gear wheel becomeslocked to the screw after shifting laterally a distance in eitherdirection, thereby to insure a substantial momentary hesitation of thetoy before the reversal of travel takes place, and a signal deviceoperated by the lateral movement'of said gear wheel.

7 1 0. In an automatically reversible mechanical toy, a reversingmechanism comprising a screw, a gear wheel mounted to rotate on saidscrew and shift laterally back and forth thereon, and means whereby 1said gear Wheel becomes locked to the screw after shifting laterally adistance in either direction, thereby to insure a substantial momentaryhesitation of the toy before the reversal of travel takes place.

11. A structure as specified in claim 10, in combination with a signaldevice oper ated by the lateral movement of said gear wheel.

12. In an automatically reversible mechanical toy, having a reversingclutch device, a reversing mechanism comprising an rotary screw forslowly opening and closing said clutch device, means to transmit powerthrough the clutch to propel the toy in either direction, means toautomatically con- ,trol said clutch to reverse the direction of travelof the toy, and means whereby the slow action of the clutch serves toinsure a substantial hesitation of the toy before the reversal of traveltakes place.

WALTER H. HUTH.

